dressing for cowboy action

I can't say it builds character but it's fun and kinda gives you a feel for the old west you wouldn't get otherwise. If you're not into history it's probably not for you. Oh yeah, don't squat with spurs on. :D
 
Does hanging out with a bunch of people playing dress up really build character?
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Well, when I compare the typical CAS match to the highschool football game I recently attended I saw a lot more character and good sportsmanship at the CAS match by a longshot (no pun intended).
 
Still amazes me the condescending comments from people about the costume aspect of cowboy action shooting. Do you guys make wisecracks to people you see in public wearing cowboy boots and/or a Stetson or is it only behind the anonymity of the internet?
 
Still amazes me the condescending comments from people about the costume aspect of cowboy action shooting. Do you guys make wisecracks to people you see in public wearing cowboy boots and/or a Stetson or is it only behind the anonymity of the internet?
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Heh. Reminds me of the self-anointed wit (well...he was HALF right) that I passed while in cowboy garb on my way into the Owatonna, MN Cabela's about 6 years ago while who quipped "Look, it's Abe Lincoln!". Yuck yuck. Yet I didn't see any prior need to comment on how he was ugly and his mommy dressed him funny.
This is typical for how I looked at shoots back then. I wouldn't've had the bandanna or the SASS badge and shoot button on at the store. :p
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A question about dressing up for cowboy action shooting. Authentic dress is required I guess but how many cowboys actually dressed in $300 hats with $500 holsters? I see far too many people dressing like dudes, gamblers and B western charactors. While sometimes fun to look at and bringing out the inner child in many people it doesn't seem very realistic to me. My idea of proper western attire is along the lines of John Wayne, James Arnes and other more simply dressed cowboys. I picture more people dressed like Festus Hagen than Bat Masterson, Lonesome Dove was a good example of what the real west was probably like. I read somewhere where most cowboys carried civil war pistol conversions for around $3 rather than spending $15 or more on a peacemaker. I do enjoy the calvery soliders, army scouts and Mt men outfits though. Anyone else think there should be more worn out hats and holsters out there?
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For one thing, in much of the nation, it's hotter'n heck out in the middle of the day in summertime when shoots can be held. And muggy. Sometimes rain and thunderstorms come into the picture, oftentimes without much advance notice. Not to mention the "fun" of trying to be active in elaborate costumes. We won't even get into trying to get BP and other stains out of said garments...;)

Okay, IIRC, the photo is from back when I was top overall at the Iowa State shoot (not an IA resident, so not state champ and we'll not even go into the totally effed up mess I was in at the time through no fault of my own regarding the WI state title over that same issue:barf:). The hat is a used Stetson that I paid something like $20 for a decade earlier at a gunshow in CA. Braided horsehair band was about $25. The shirt cost like $30, the pants about $40. Bandanna was $6, suspenders were $15. I made the gunleather myself. My Dad helped with the gun cart. Admittedly, the boots I was wearing at the time were a pair of J.R. Reyes' that cost me $325, but The Fort Outfitters was selling decent boots at the shoot for something like $125 and I still wear the pair of those I bought there on occasion to this day. Dressing for a shoot doesn't have to cost a fortune.
 
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Guys who are firearms enthusiasts should be a little more tolerant of other people who enjoy the same pastime. There's enough negative aspect shoved down people's throats about firearms as it is without doing it to each other

Do I dress like a GI when I shoot my M1? No. But if the range rules said I had to and that's where I had to shoot I'd be wearing pinks and greens

But see, just going to shoot my rifle for fun doesn't have that type of rules. CA shooting events have them

if you want to compete, you wear the uniform. Same as Football.

Am I wearing shoulder pads in the stands? No

If I'm on the field do I need shoulder pads to play? yes

Same thing. if you don;t care for it...don't participate. But it seems to me very foolish to belittle other firearm enthusiasts for not being "cool" or something. There's plenty of people who want to take away my right to own a firearm. We're all in the same boat. A little unity might be nice, or even expected. Don't like the uniform? Don't play. maybe it's being overlooked that if you ain't dressed for it, you ain't competing. I'm sure golfers don't wear cleats at home but I think they dress funny on the course...doesn't mean I'm making fun of what they wear to play, or that I imagine they are squares or something becasue they wear that golfing get-up
 
Dressing up depends on what class you want to shoot in. it doesnt have to cost a fortune if you hit ebay and some sales. The palce I shoot will let you get by with a hat some jeans and a shirt...if your just interested in the fun.
 
how many cowboys actually dressed in $300 hats with $500 holsters?
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All things considered, it's not quite as off as it seems. In 1870 money, that $300 and $500 is only $20 and $34. Since $20 was roughly a month's pay for your average cowpoke (and average cost for a Colt SAA), $300 doesn't seem like much to pay for a good hat nowadays. Unfortunately today you have to spend that much to get a good beaver felt hat made like they were in the late 1800's. I don't believe there were any cheap synthetic felt hats imported from China in that timeframe.

You can definitely get some really nice, custom made, authentic leather for A LOT less than $500.
 
cas dressing

Hi All.

I was born on the farm in Oklahoma and punched cattle and all the other stuff required.It is not 'cool' to dress like some do.I still wear my boots and hatand nobody says squat. Oh, bythe way I also shoot Black powder. I am with Jim Keenan.If you haven't walked the walk,don't talk the talk.

samco
 
If you haven't walked the walk,don't talk the talk.
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Now we swing to the other extreme. If you don't actually ride horses, raise cattle and work a ranch as your sole income, you're a poser. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I guess if you had your way there would be no cowboy action shooting because there would be very, very few people who actually qualified. As a direct result of your elitism, there would NOT be such a huge selection of replica firearms on today's market. Many of the tasty guns available now would have never been brought to market. Basically gone forever.

The Western is already a dying movie genre, it doesn't need any help from within to send it to its grave early.
 
"...doesn't seem very realistic..." It's not meant to be realistic. It's meant to be fun. That's why you see holster rigs that were never seen in the 1880's. The holsters seen in movies and on TV are not historically accurate. Not everybody carried a gun. Nor did most cowboys(who weren't well liked by the towns people). Most of them didn't own a horse either.
"...may have to get a smaller one..." Cheaper to buy a leather hole punch.
 
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